Sea Time

12 days at sea from Cape Town to India is not a piece of cake. The Indian Ocean is rougher than the Atlantic Ocean which we had been traveling through before we reached Cape Town. It seems like the waves get worse at night, which is when I like to study and work out. On quiet a few nights I have had to retire early to bed because I could not handle the motion sickness. I have never actually gotten sick, just very nauseous. Time is going by a lot faster than I thought it would. We will be in India on Tuesday. It does not feel like I have been at sea for 7 days now.
They do keep us busy around here. This morning I had my Oceanography midterm, we had to make up 5 questions from each chapter and then we played Jeopardy. Tomorrow I have my Global Studies and International Business midterms. And then on Sunday I have my Zen midterm. Fun fact: since the beginning of this voyage we have only had 20 class days. This means only 10 classes for each subject. Oh how I love Semester at Sea. It is really hard to get back into the routine after 7 days off in Cape Town, 5 days off in Namibia, and 5 days off in Brazil.
Yesterday was actually a no class day. The Sea Olympics were held. The teams were made up by which hall you lived in. Each hall has a different sea name. Mine is the Adriatic Sea. I participated in the Olympic rely which comprised of an orange pass, wheel barrel race, 3 legged race, and a race where you balanced an empty cup on your index and ring fingers and then ran to the other end of the deck. I did the orange pass part. My sea won this event. Other events included a pizza making contest, hotdog eating contest, a spelling bee, sudoku, volleyball, dodge ball, synchronized swimming, and limbo. This was pretty much an all day event and then at night we had a God and Goddess dance. I was the Earth God, Gaia.
A few nights ago the LGBT club held a “Coming Out” stories discussion in the Union. I teared up a few times when people were telling their stories of how their family members did not approve of their life decisions, and basically disowned them. On the bright side a lot of people had funny stories of how they came out. I am happy that so many people have the courage to put themselves out there for judgment, and in most cases everyone accepts them no matter what their sexual preference is.
I am on the Ambassador’s Ball Committee, which is the big shebang at the end of this voyage. We meet every B day, so this is another thing to occupy my time. I am in charge of the alternative programming. There are 2 dinner sittings, so when people are not at dinner they come to the Union and watch people perform. I am in charge of finding people to perform. It is still too early in the voyage to get serious about this, so I basically go to the meetings and help the other committees like with the menu and decorations.
These are all the things that have been occupying my time besides eating and sleeping. Please keep the emails coming! jmwinters@semesteratsea.net